Behind a strong performance from the bottom of the team's singles lineup, the fifth-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team claimed a win over a top-10 opponent on Sunday morning, besting 10th-ranked Washington University (Mo.) 5-2 to wrap up play at the Ohio Invitational at the Mayfield Village Racquet Club in Mayfield, Ohio.

The win was the 12th straight for the Spartans, who improved to 19-4 overall. WashU dropped to 5-6 with the loss.

The Spartans came away from a thrilling set of doubles matches with a 1-0 lead. The two teams split the first two doubles contests that were decided, with the Bears's duo of Drew Koval and Scott Yamamoto winning 6-3 at no. 3 doubles over seniors Ajay Mahenthiran and Casey Hishinuma, and the Spartans' pair of juniors Rohan Bhat and Anmay Devaraj winning 6-3 over Eric Kuo and Colin Fox at no. 2 doubles.

With the split, the doubles point would be decided in the first match, where CWRU first-years Leon Chen and Jon Totorica and WashU's Patricio Garcia Muriel Pasquel and Stefan Hester remained within a game of each other in a back-and-forth match. The tiebreaker also remained within a point until the Spartans broke WashU's serve at 9-8 to claim the 7-6 (8) win and the doubles point.

CWRU went on to get straight-set wins from each of the bottom three spots in the singles lineup to secure the team win. Hishinuma was the first to finish, besting Avi Mahajan 6-0, 6-4 at no. 5 singles, and a 6-1, 6-2 win from sophomore Santiago Salazar Garza over John Fakouri in the sixth singles match put the Spartans a victory away from clinching. Junior Matthew Plunkett provided the clinching point in the fourth singles match, besting Case Fagan 6-4, 6-3 to claim the win.

WashU was able to pull closer in the final score as Colin Scruggs bested Mahenthiran 6-4, 6-4 at no. 1 singles and Kuo defeated sophomore George Kosseifi 7-6 (6), 7-5 at no. 2 singles. Devaraj capped off the CWRU win with a three-set win over Hester, winning 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-7.

CWRU will return to action on Friday, April 4, with matches against Otterbein University and Trinity University (Texas) at the Mayfield Village Racquet Club in Mayfield, Ohio.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans have now won five of their last six matches against WashU dating back to the 2020 campaign.

• With his singles win on Sunday, Hishinuma improved to 83-22 for his career. He currently ranks fourth in program history in singles victories and is one away from former Spartan Will Drougas (2011-15) for the third-most in team history.

• Hishinuma also leads all CWRU players with a 20-5 singles record this year, including a 15-1 mark in dual matches. Salazar Garza improved to 19-4 on the season with his win on Sunday.

• As a team, CWRU is 210-72 (.745) in singles matches and 90-42 (.682) in doubles contests.

• During the team's 12-match winning streak, the Spartans have won 68 of their 72 singles matches and 31 of their 36 doubles contests.

• The Spartans improved to 8-2 against nationally ranked Division III teams with the win against WashU on Sunday. It was CWRU's second win of the year against a top-10 opponent, including a 4-3 win over ninth-ranked Swarthmore on February 21.